


wake me up in the spring

by vatonages



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, M/M, jeno shouldn't have been given a driver's license, mark has the least helpful friends on the planet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 15:13:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17562875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vatonages/pseuds/vatonages
Summary: It just keeps happening, and while he knows his morally bankrupt friends would never question free anything, Mark can’t help but feel guilty. Who is this mystery guy giving him free coffee, anyway? All he knows is his name is Jeno and he works at Starbucks. It’s really not much to go on.





	wake me up in the spring

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! i hope you enjoy this. it's probably got some mistakes because i am very sleep deprived and decided to write this instead of like, packing or showering or doing laundry when i literally go back to the dorms for first day of spring semester in 12 hours [screaming into a pillow] anyways, the title is from american teen by khalid (mark lee has taken over my brain) i'm not sure when my next story will be up. i know i've been posting a lot lately but i'll have to see how my schedule is and if i can keep consistently pumping out content ;; in the meantime good luck everyone in whatever you're doing <3 thank you

Mark is halfway through a paper on misogyny and violence in film when the cute barista with the nose (“‘With the nose’?” “It’s not just any nose, Renjun. It’s pretty remarkable.”) calls his name and waits for him to get his drink at the end of the counter. 

 

It’s not til Mark has sat back down with it and has taken several sips that he realizes he never actually  _ paid  _ for it, just ordered it. He goes up to the barista immediately, whose name tag reads  _ Jeno _ , feeling like a criminal.

 

“Um,” he says sheepishly. “I think I forgot to pay for this?” He’s never had to say that before, so he feels like an idiot until the barista holds up a finger to his mouth, like he’s telling Mark to  _ shush.  _

 

“Yes, you did,” he says, and smiles at Mark. “Don’t worry.” Mark blinks.

 

“But I didn’t?” Mark asks, confused out of his mind. The barista laughs. 

 

‘Don’t worry about it,” he says, but more forcefully this time. “It’s covered,” he says. 

 

Mark doesn’t really know what  _ that  _ means, but he sits back down anyways, mildly confused. Maybe he  _ did  _ pay for it and he just forgot. Maybe all those all nighters are finally corrupting his hippocampus and he can’t store short term memories anymore. That thought wasn’t his. That was  _ definitely _ a Renjun thought. He makes a mental note to himself to find new people to hang out with. 

 

So he tries to ignore the feeling in the back of his head that he definitely just accidentally stole a drink. It’s hard, but he manages, and then he’s cracking his knuckles and trying to finish this fucking 6 page paper that has slowly stolen pieces of his soul with every paragraph.

  
  


It would be fine if it was just a one time incident, but it happens  _ again.  _ He orders his drink, and  _ Jeno  _ writes his name on the cup and when Mark goes to pull out his wallet, Jeno shakes his head.

 

“Okay. No. You can’t do this. I need to pay you! It’s only the right thing to do,” But Jeno is still shaking his head.

 

“But-!” Mark begins.

  
“Sir,” Jeno begins, voice sweet. “If you cause a scene, I might have to contact a manager to come deal with it. You don’t want that, do you?” he says, but it sounds a lot like  _ Enjoy the fucking free drink, you dumbass,  _ though Mark personally thinks Jeno would never actually say such a thing. He doesn’t know him really, but he looks too nice to say something like that. Jaemin sure would, though. Mark frowns.

  
“Fine,” he says, going to wait for his drink at the end of the counter. “But only so you don’t get in trouble!” he says, and Jeno grins, back turned to him as he makes his drink.

 

It just keeps happening, and while he knows his morally bankrupt friends would never question free  _ anything,  _ Mark can’t help but feel guilty. Who is this mystery guy giving him free coffee, anyway? All he knows is his name is Jeno and he works at Starbucks. It’s really not much to go on. 

 

He gets a lucky break when an angry voice calls  _ Lee Jeno! _ from the back of the store after a series of crashing sounds cause Mark to shoot a good six inches out of his seat like a cartoon character, and Jeno goes running away from the counter to see what happened.

 

But it’s still not much, so he decides it’s time to bring out The Big Guns, which just happens to mean calling Donghyuk and asking him if he knows an Lee Jeno.

 

“You’ve reached the house of undiscovered talent,” comes Donghyuk’s voice when he picks up.  _ Who even has house phones anymore?  _ Mark thinks bitterly, and waits for a second before speaking because Donghyuk used to have that as his voicemail message, and he got tricked every time, going right into a rant about his latest dilemma only to be cut off by a  _ “Please leave a message after the beep... “  _ and almost break his phone in half.

 

“Sure, Donghyuk.” he says, rolling his eyes. 

 

“Hey,” Donghyuk replies. Oh, so it  _ is  _ him. “You should be nicer to me, considering you’re about to request my services.” Mark squints. 

 

“How do you know th- Anyways, you’re right. Hey, Donghyuk! How’ve you been?” Mark asks sweetly, and hears Donghyuk gag.

 

“Actually, keep being mean. That was just weird. What do you need?” Mark puts his mouth closer to the receiver, like he’s a government agent with a secret.

 

“Do you know anyone named Lee Jeno?” he asks, eyes shifting around the room. It really doesn’t make sense, because he’s in his bedroom, and the only other person who could be there is his roommate, Jaemin, who definitely has class right now. Donghyuk makes a thinking noise on the line, like he’s going through a mental archive of everyone he’s ever met. He seems to have a knack for remembering everyone who might serve a purpose later on. Mark says that makes him a sociopath, but Donghyuk says it makes him  _ resourceful. _

 

“I think Jaemin has a Chem class with him. Why?” 

 

“I was just wondering. So he goes to our school?”

 

“Um, yeah. As far as I know. He’s my age, so much too young for you, obviously. You  _ cougar,”  _ Donghyuk says, accusing.

 

“It’s like one year’s difference!” Mark says, defensive. Making him upset is almost  _ too  _ easy. Sometimes Donghyuk gets him all pissed off and then pretends to  _ yawn,  _ like having such an easy target bores him, and Mark has to take deep soothing breaths like Joel Osteen told him to so that he doesn’t reach forward and choke Donghyuk out. 

 

“Kinky,” Donghyuk says, winking, when Mark voices that threat out loud one day. It repulses Mark enough to withdraw his hands.

 

Donghyuk laughs. 

 

“I’m just messing with you. It’s fine, maybe Jeno is into older men.  _ Sexy.”  _ Donghyuk whispers, which makes this all so much worse. Mark sighs. 

 

“Okay, I’m gonna hang up now. Thanks for being somewhat helpful. I hope you slip on some ice when you go to check the mail.” Mark knows he is going to check the mail, because Donghyuk is always ordering stuff off the fucking internet and then whining about being broke.

 

“I hope Jeno reports you to the police for being a creepy old man,” Donghyuk says, and then hangs up. Mark scoffs into the phone, adrenaline pumping like he just outran a bear. Fuck Donghyuk. Mark isn’t even that old. He shouldn’t even be entertaining these thoughts.  _ That’s how Donghyuk gets you... _ Jaemin’s words echo in his head. Ah, right. He’s the hyung. He shouldn’t get worked up so easily 

  
  
  


“Maybe if you didn’t buy 24 pens that look like  _ leeks,”  _ Renjun says, completely unsympathetic as Donghyuk whines about his tragically empty bank account, face pressed into the arm of the study lounge couch. Which, gross, because who knows what germs are on that thing. But Donghyuk  _ needed  _ those pens.

 

“You don’t  _ need  _ leek pens,” Jaemin argues. “Nobody does.” Donghyuk whines.

 

“None of you get it. They make me a little less depressed when I take notes in class. If I looked down and saw myself writing with a normal pen, I’d be damn near suicidal, but when I see this cute little _leek,_ well I-”

 

“I’m done listening to this,” Mark says.

 

“Good thing no one was talking to you, then,” Donghyuk says, almost too prepared to fight back. Mark opens his mouth to argue and Renjun throws a paper ball at his head, freshly made.

 

“Don’t you two fucking start. I came here to  _ study,  _ goddammit.” he says. Mark and Donghyuk shut their mouths, and look to Jaemin at the same time, who pretends he doesn’t see them. Some help  _ he _ is. 

 

“Jaemin,” Mark remembers, sitting up. “Do you know an Lee Jeno?” 

 

“Yeah,” Jaemin says dismissively, like he’s not particularly interested. “I’m lab partners with him in Chem. He’s cute and nice and everything but he almost sets the lab on fire every time we need to use the bunsen burners. I fear for my life. The guy is blind, okay? And he forgot to wear his contacts to lab. A lab. With chemicals.” Jaemin shudders. “Why do you ask?”

 

“I think he works at the Starbucks across from campus.” Mark shrugs. Mark wants to hiss every time he remembers the location of that Starbucks. The college pamphlet had made it seem so convenient to access.  _ Right across the street!  _ It said. It didn’t say that Mark had to run across an active highway with a broken street crossing sign and hope he didn’t die every time he wanted a simple coffee. He wore a lot of neon colors when he went there. He fucking  _ hates  _ that place, but once he manages to survive the trip there it’s his sanctuary. 

 

“So?” Jaemin prompts, as nosey and unhelpful as ever. 

 

“Well, he makes my drinks. But I never have to pay for them when he works there. You think that means anything?” Renjun looks up from his textbook, but is subtle about it. He can’t resist gossip.

 

“I think that means either you’re stealing from the Starbucks, or Jeno is just really bad at his job. He would never give away free drinks. The kid is way too much of a goody-two-shoes rule follower for that. He doesn’t even use his phone in class.” Jaemin snorts.

 

“He’s probably paying for them himself, dumbass.” Donghyuk sneers.

 

“Wow,” Renjun says. “You guys should join the FBI,” If any more sarcasm had dripped from that statement, there would be a puddle on the fucking floor.

 

“Shut up,” Donghyuk says, but Renjun levels him with a look and he relents. 

 

Mark wonders what kind of power Renjun has to be able to strike fear into Lee Donghyuk, but he had gotten too scared to pursue the answer further after the time he asked Renjun to come with him to his Youth Group For Fun and Fresh Worship of the Lord. Renjun had stared at him with dead eyes and said “Mark, if I entered a church, I’d catch on fire,” and Mark had swallowed hard and not pressed the issue any further. He didn’t know how he’d explain it to his father, the pastor, if he and his friends burnt down the fucking church.

 

“He clearly likes you,” Renjun says, frustrated with everyone sitting around him. “Especially to buy you all those drinks each week. I mean, you practically live there and one drink is like 10,000 won.”

 

“More like 6,500.” Mark says. “But still, a small fortune.”

 

“Maybe if you had less expensive taste…” Jaemin trails off.

 

“Chug the nasty fucking caf coffee like the rest of us,” Donghyuk says, scribbling an outline of an outline in his notebook. Anything to avoid doing  _ actual  _ work but still avoid looking like That unproductive asshole in the study group. He totally is That Asshole, but he doesn’t want everyone to know that just by  _ looking.  _ If he’s lucky, they’ll think it’s Jaemin. Renjun shudders.

 

“It’s so...It’s so...treacherous,” he whispers. “It tastes like  _ nail polish remover,”  _ Jaemin gets a stupid grin on his face and everyone already knows what he’s about to ask.

 

“How do you know what nail polish remover tastes like, Injun?” Renjun glares.

 

“Because I have a fucking nose,” he says. Jaemin still looks smug. Renjun starts to crumble up another sheet of paper into a ball to throw at his head, but then stops himself, smoothing the paper back out.

 

“You’re not worth killing the Earth over,” he sighs. “I can only hope one day the aliens finally pick up on the signals I’ve been sending out and come pick me up.” Nobody knows what to say to that, so they don’t say anything. Mark can’t tell if he’s kidding or not, and that terrifies him.

 

“This is stupid,” Donghyuk says, setting down his notebook. He’s started an outline of an outline of an outline. He’s really getting places now. “Just give him your number next time you get a drink. Act like it’s for a membership or something.”

 

“You’re not allowed to use those for personal reasons,” Jaemin argues. “Jeno would never just text it like that.”

 

“Then he’s gonna have to be bold and just fucking hand it to him, not as a customer, but as a date! Be a big boy, Mark.” Donghyuk says. “He’s spending a fortune on you and obviously likes you and you’re sitting here like it’s fucking rocket science.”

 

“Jeez,” Jaemin laughs. “You’re so mad,”

 

“Yes, I am! Because it causes me physical pain to have incompetent people around me, and look at who I’m sitting with!” Donghyuk gestures to his surroundings, muttering a quick “Not you, Renjun,” that satisfies Renjun enough for him to tilt his head up like a proud housecat. 

 

“Hey!” Jaemin and Mark protest, and then Donghyuk starts arguing back, and then they’re being way too loud to be in the  _ study lounge.  _ Donghyuk takes a pretty bad hit to the nose from a paper ball. This one was made with pure hatred, and he can feel it.

 

“The Earth is going to  _ die  _ now,” Renjun growls. “And it’s all because of you idiots.”

 

“Why didn’t you hit Jaemin?” Donghyuk asks, feeling wronged.

 

“Because you seem to be the instigator here. Shut your mouth before I start throwing sharp things. I have a stapler in here!” Renjun threatens, glancing at his bag. Donghyuk gulps.

 

“Mouth is shutting.” Renjun smiles sweetly.

 

“That’s really good news. I was going to staple it shut if you didn’t comply,” he says, and then returns to studying like he didn’t just send a shiver down all three of their spines. 

  
  


Mark heads to the Starbucks across from campus, as usual. Well, actually it’s not that simple. He leaves the dorm to get a coffee only to realize upon stepping outside that it’s  _ raining,  _ so he has to go back up to the third floor and grab an umbrella and relock his room and come all the way back down. It’s raining so hard the raindrops are going fucking horizontal, so the umbrella isn’t really doing a damn thing to shield him from the rain, and he’s worried his books are going to get soaked through his backpack on the trip, which is bad! Very bad! Because Mark didn’t  _ purchase  _ these. He’s not fucking rich. He rented them like any financially responsible student would, and if they get ruined his life is  _ over.  _

 

So he runs as fast as he possibly can across the highway even though there’s not necessarily  _ the clearest  _ path for him, and cars are still definitely driving at incredibly high, capable-of-killing-Mark-Lee speeds. They honk a few times, but Mark will take angry drivers and narrowly avoiding death over owing $500 for textbooks he didn’t even want in the fucking first place and hardly even uses any time.

 

He enters the Starbucks breathing heavily, his hair soaked and sticking to his head. Considering he looks like he just went through a spin cycle in the washing machine, he shouldn’t be surprised by all the people looking at him, but he sure is, and he blinks owlishly back at them before sitting down at his normal spot, tracking water everywhere. One of the employees curses and goes in the back, coming back out with an armful of wet floor signs, looking thoroughly dissatisfied with being alive. 

 

And of course, Jeno is working. He stops mid counter-wiping to stare at Mark like he’s an alien, and honestly, Mark imagined this going a lot differently. He throws the rag he was wiping the counter with aside and starts making a drink. Well, Mark thinks. That’s it. He’s lost him. He came in looking like a wet koala bear (He looked them up once. They’re horrifying and haunt his every waking moment and he wishes Jaemin had never told him to check them out. They look  _ nothing  _ like dry koala bears) and now Jeno doesn’t like him anymore and he’s probably going to go in the back with his hot and angry coworker and make out with him and laugh about how pathetic Mark is and then he’s-

 

A drink slides across the table.

 

“It’s hot, so be careful!” Jeno says. He has glasses on today, which Mark didn’t notice when he first entered because he was paying a lot more attention to how his shoes are full of what might be two whole liters of water, and the embarrassing squeaking sound they made as Mark walked across the floor. He looks cute with the glasses on, less intimidating.

 

“Oh, thanks so much.” Mark says. “Um...what is it exactly?” Jeno smiles.

 

“It’s tea. I promise I’ll get you something with more caffeine in it in a little bit, but I thought you could use this to warm you up a bit. Um, I don’t think I’m supposed to do this really, but I could get you a towel? Yuta is sort of pissed off that the floor is a swimming pool now.” Jeno says sheepishly, but Mark just shrugs. He deserves that. 

 

“Thank you, and that would be great. I had no idea it was pouring outside and then I was...ill-prepared to say the least.” Jeno laughs, soft puffs of air.

 

“I’ll say. I’ll be right back,” he says, and goes to get a towel. Mark takes a sip of the tea and burns his fucking mouth. Idiot, he thinks. Jeno  _ just  _ told him that it was hot and to be careful. Maybe his brain got soaked in the rain, too. He tries to act like someone who isn’t sporting a third degree burn on his tongue when Jeno returns with a towel and hands it to him.

 

“The customer always comes first,” he says, smiling. Mark takes the towel politely, and then as Jeno goes to walk away he panics and grabs his wrist. Jeno turns around looking surprised and he just  _ prays  _ he hasn’t creeped Jeno out before he can even ask him out.

 

“Um, I’m sorry. See, there was something I’ve been meaning to ask you. You know, I come here a lot, obviously,” Mark laughs self consciously. “And you give me a lot of drinks. And you don’t make me pay for them, which means that either both of us are involved in a grand scale heist of Starbucks products or you are paying for them yourself, and I can’t really see why you’d do that unless you were...maybe...interested in me?” Mark asks, but his tone of voice makes it seem like it’s  _ highly unlikely  _ that he’s right, full of doubt. Jeno looks embarrassed.

 

“Well, um, I get one free drink a shift, and sometimes I work two shifts, and I just use them both at once, and sometimes I pay for them, but it’s really not that bad, and you clearly need them more than me, because I see how tired you are when you’re working on your homework and stuff. But,” Jeno says, moving nervously. “Yeah. Yeah, I am interested in you, but it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I’m just some barista. You don’t even know me, so I get it.” Mark smiles at that, realizes his cold hand is still holding Jeno’s wrist, and releases it.

 

“You’re Lee Jeno, right?” he asks, and Jeno’s eyes widen. “My friend Jaemin is your lab partner in Chem. Says you’re kind of a menace with the bunsen burners and chemicals, but that’s not important right now. My next question is, do you want my number? Or to go on a date? Something?” Mark wishes he could have looked a little bit  _ hotter _ while he asked this, but that’s just how life goes sometimes, and Jeno is smiling at him, eyes in cute little crescents like his eyes are smiling too. God, he’s so pretty, and he smells like coffee beans. Mark feels bad that he looks like a used mop and made the floor all slippery.  _ I made your shift a lot harder and pissed off your coworker, wanna be my boyfriend?  _

 

“Yeah!” Jeno says. “I’d love that. But I...really need to get back to work now,” Jeno says, making eye contact with Yuta, who’s glaring at him. Probably for associating with the Guy Who Ruined The Floor And Made It A Safety Hazard. Mark can’t blame him. “You’re gonna be here for a while, right?” Jeno asks. Mark nods. “Okay, great,” he smiles. “I’m gonna get that number from you a little bit later. Yuta hyung doesn’t like when I associate with the enemy.”

 

“The ‘enemy’?” Mark questions, eyebrows raised. 

 

“Customers,” Jeno says apologetically. That’s fair. “Don’t leave before I can get it, okay?”

 

“I won’t,” Mark says. “I made you wait long enough already,” Jeno smiles and goes back to the counter, and Mark fishes out an only slightly damp (thank God) textbook to start doing the readings for his Psych class. Yes, he actually does the readings. Donghyuk doesn’t believe it either. 

 

After a brain melting 3 hours of work and an iced coffee slid across the table, because Jeno apparently loves the _ enemy _ , Jeno takes off his apron and little hat and asks Mark if he wants a ride back to the dorms. Mark is mostly dry, and it’s dark outside, and he forgot to wear neon so cars won’t hit him when he runs across the highway, so he takes Jeno up on the offer.

 

He’s not sure he ever will again, because it seems like his normal way home is safer, but he appreciates the gesture.

 

“Man,” he says. “I’m not really sure you should be driving. Are you legally blind?” Jeno pouts at that, pulling into the parking lot. Mark doesn’t even have to look to know he’s done a horrible job, but hey, they made it. 

 

“No,” Jeno sniffs indignantly. “Well...not yet. Anyways, which floor do you live on? I live here too, you know. Second floor.” That makes Mark’s eyes almost pop out of his head. How could he have missed him all this time when they live in the same goddamn building?

 

“Third floor,” he says. “Wow, you could come over whenever. I didn’t know you lived here.” Jeno laughs.

 

“Yup, how else would I have met my best friend, Renjun?” Mark almost shuts his hand in the car door.

 

“You know  _ Renjun?”  _ he asks, and Jeno looks at him funny.

 

“Yeah, we’re roommates. Why?” Mark sighs.

 

“I’m going to kill him…” he whispers, mostly to himself. 

 

“Is this like, a jealousy thing? Because it’s sort of sexy and I appreciate the gesture, but like I just said, that’s my best friend and roommate and I don’t really feel like having to reacquaint myself with a whole new person if he dies. And Renjun bakes gluten free brownies with me.” Mark laughs.

 

“No, it’s just...Renjun is  _ my _ friend, too. But I asked him about you and he acted like he didn’t even know who you were.” Jeno laughs.

 

“That’s definitely a very...Renjun thing to do. I’m sure he had a good reason. Anyways, could I get your number? It’s late and I’d love to talk more but I have to go to bed. I worked a double shift today and I’m exhausted.” Jeno says, smiling apologetically.

 

“Oh, yeah!” Mark says as they enter the building. “Here, give me your number and I’ll text it so you have mine.” Jeno tells him the digits, and then they part ways in the elevator when Jeno gets off on the second floor. Mark smiles the whole way to his room, and it only falters slightly when he gets back and sees Jaemin sitting on his bed. 

 

“Woah, did Jeno try to  _ drown  _ you? You look like you got submerged in a lake.” Jaemin asks, sitting up to get a better look at him. Mark decides to ignore that.

 

“Did you know Jeno and Renjun are besties? He gave me his number, by the way.” he says, and Jaemin’s jaw drops.

 

“Now Renjun has secret friends he’s hiding from us? What’s next? Secret husbands? Wives? Children?” he seems absolutely scandalized, like he’s about to go down to Renjun’s room right this very second and interrogate him. That’d be pretty on brand for Jaemin, honestly. He had done everything short of shining a police interrogation light in Mark’s eyes when he found out Mark’s contact name for him in his phone didn’t include any emojis.  _ And to think I named you Markeurri with hearts on both sides... _

 

“Settle down,” Mark laughs. “Don’t go down there. Jeno has to go to sleep soon, and if you yell at Renjun you’ll keep him up.” Jaemin sits down.

 

“Disgusting. You’re already whipped for him.”

 

“It’s  _ called  _ being a considerate person.” Mark argues, but is interrupted by a text.

  
  


_ Renjun _

_ Heard you finally got that Jeno guy’s number ;)  _

  
  


Mark leaves him on read.


End file.
